Area prep bowling teams, bowlers represented

The Green Bay Area High School Bowling Conference closed out a successful season earlier this month when the Ashwaubenon team captured the Division II state tournament at Dale’s Weston Lanes in Schofield.

Ashwaubenon won the title by defeating conference foe Marinette in the finals and another conference team, Green Bay Southwest, finished third in the Division I step-ladder finals.

In addition, Morgan Stary, a member of the Southwest team, finished second in the girls singles event. The singles event is conducted in just one class.

The high school program, sponsored by the Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin, has 185 schools and over 2,300 bowlers competing in the program that was started in 1998.

The Southwest team of Stary, MaKayla Baeten, R.J. Doxtater, Ryan Weber, Dylan Hendrickson, Trent Thomas and Dylan Doxtater, totaled a 2,722 for 15 games to reach the step-ladder finals in fifth place.

In its first match, Southwest beat No. 4 Sheboygan South-Central 349-287 and then knocked off No. 3 seed Kenosha Tremper 366-331 before losing to No. 2 seed Sun Prairie 383-353. Sun Prairie went on to win the title by knocking off top seed Fond du Lac 370-342 for the championship.

Teams are coed and are allowed anywhere from 5-10 members and competition allows free substitution, giving all members a chance to compete.

In the girls singles, Stary averaged 203.50 in qualifying to gain the No. 1 seed in the step-ladder finals. In the championship match, No. 2 seed Carlene Beyer of Manawa beat her 198-170.

Stary bowled a 643 in the three-game opening round and followed it up with a 578 in the semi-finals for a 1,221 to easily outdistance Beyer who bowled a 1,154 (192.33 average) to gain the No. 2 seed.

Andrew Krueger of Green Bay Preble finished 19th in the boys’ singles. Krueger got off to a good start, shooting 639 in the opening round and was in sixth place heading into the semifinals. But struggled in the semifinals, managing a 456 series for 1,095 and an average of 182.50.

In a separate Storm Doubles Championship event, Krueger and Bailey Gardner combined to shoot a 929 and tie for third place and earn a $290 scholarship award.

The Green Bay conference is comprised of 12 teams. In addition to Ashwaubenon, Southwest and Marinette the other schools are Preble, East and West, Bay Port, De Pere, West De Pere, Seymour, Pulaski and Peshtigo.

Bay Port also qualified for the state in Division I, finishing in ninth place with a 2,626. The team was comprised of Ryan Georgia, Tyler Doxtator, Dylan Shafel, Ryan Curtice, John and Jason Huben.

Jim Zima is a freelance writer who covers bowling for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. Email him at jezima@yahoo.com.